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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Do FamilySearch Collections show up in Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com? -- Not yet, if ever

It is very hard to tell but the background of comments from various users seem to indicate that some of the FamilySearch.org Historical Record Collections are showing up as searchable in Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com. This could all be wishful thinking, but it could also be a result of the agreements between these companies and FamilySearch announced over the past months. I find NO EVIDENCE of an overlap yet. I have tried to see if any of the named collections on FamilySearch are listed as available on Ancestry.com, but so far, I haven't seen any concrete evidence of shared databases. I have tried several searches from Ancestry.com and also from FamilySearch.org to see if I can somehow force an acknowledgement. I guess we will just have to wait for a further explanation from all those folks about how these newly announced agreements are actually going to work. Rumors are sometimes good because they catch people's interest and give them an incentive to do some work.

The rumors may be coming from duplicate collections on the different websites. For example, MyHeritage.com searches Utah Death Certificates, 1904 - 1958 and FamilySearch.org has essentially the same database as Utah Death Certificates, 1904 - 1956. You might notice the two year difference in the two collections. I'm not saying that sharing the databases isn't a possibility, but I just haven't seen a real concrete example yet, just hints here and there. I would suggest that, if anything is going to be announced, they are all probably waiting until the very fast approaching RootsTech 2014 Conference to make announcements. If there are no new developments at RootsTech 2014, then I guess we will all just have to wait and see if anything develops from the previously announced agreements.

Meanwhile, all of you out there who have been talking to me about the connections can certainly show your "proof" in comments to this blog post, if you wish. Otherwise, I guess we all wait.

I mentioned yesterday that I had just recently found links to some Familysearch India records in MyHertiage.com. Here is one example for the birth record for Francis James Boyd b. 1836: http://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30145/india-births-baptisms-1786-1947?s=65750441&itemId=309554-&action=showRecordIn checking the link you will find the Familysearch collection name: India, Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947 along with the specific Family search batch and film references but I do not see the name Familysearch anywhere referenced in MyHertage. In checking the lists of new birth, marriage and death collections I see many Familysearch collections by name. Here are three I checked today for specific names and again found the specific Familysearch batch, film, etc references given with no specific credit given to Familysearch by name:India, Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948India Marriages, 1792 - 1948 Germany, Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898